


More Than Meets the Eye

by StBridget



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Hidden Depths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-05 04:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12787482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StBridget/pseuds/StBridget
Summary: Jack knew what people saw when they looked at him:  joker, borderline buffoon, ladies’ man.  That's what Jack wanted them to think.  But there was more to Jack Dalton than met the eye.





	More Than Meets the Eye

**Author's Note:**

> So, I get really tired of the way the show has a tendency to make Jack out as a buffoon. I think that's how he wants people to see him, but I think there's a lot more to him than that. So, I wrote this in response to everyone who thinks Jack Dalton is just a meathead.

Jack Dalton was your typical soldier: Big and buff, all hard lines and sharp edges. He was the muscle; his job was to punch things, knock things out, and shoot his way out of tight situations. Oh, and he drove a mean getaway car. His job wasn’t thinking; that he left to his partner, Angus “Mac” MacGyver.

 

Jack knew what people saw when they looked at him: joker, borderline buffoon, ladies’ man, barely a thought in his head that didn’t revolve around food or beer or sex or movies, except when it came to a mission. Then, he was all focused energy with one goal: get his team out alive. That was what he did, who he was, or at least, that’s what everyone thought, what Jack _wanted_ them to think. But there was more to Jack Dalton than met the eye.

 

Riley Davis, their tech analyst, was the one who found it. She was doing a routine search for Matilda “Matty” Webber, the head of Phoenix Foundation and their boss, on some organization or another, and she found a reference to a case study in a doctoral dissertation. It was highly cited, and seemed to be respected as an authoritative source on the subject. From what Riley could tell from her scan—which wasn’t much because most of it was above her—it was extremely detailed, thought-provoking, and well-written. What surprised her was the author—Jack Dalton. It couldn’t possibly be _their_ Jack Dalton, could it? Not their carefree, living in the moment Jack. He wasn’t capable of something like this, was he? Riley immediately chided herself for the thought. Just because Jack came across that way didn’t mean the re weren’t hidden depths. Riley dug further.

 

It soon became apparent this  _was_ their Jack Dalton. Jack a PhD. That was interesting. Now, what should she do with the information?  She picked up her phone and texted Mac and Wilt Bozer., Mac’s best friend and their other team member.

 

M ac was the one who confronted Jack. He caught up with the soldier in the Phoenix cafeteria one day. Jack was shoveling down his lunch like there was no tomorrow when Mac plopped a thick, spiral-bound book in front of him.

 

“What’s this?” Jack asked.

 

“A little light reading I thought you might enjoy,” Mac replied.

 

“The Applications of Intelligence in the War on Terror: A Case Study,” Jack read. His voice and manner gave nothing away. “Looks interesting.”

 

“It was, from what I could tell,” Mac said. “Most of it was beyond me.”

 

Jack laughed a slightly forced laugh and shoved the book away. “I’m sure it’s beyond me, then.”

 

Mac shoved it back. “Oh, I doubt it, given that you wrote it.”

 

Jack looked sheepish. “Okay, you caught me.”

 

Mac sat down beside Jack. “Why didn’t you tell us?” he asked.

 

Jack tried to play it off. “It’s not a big deal.”

 

“Jack, you have a PhD in political science from UCLA. That’s one of the best programs in the country. I’d say it’s a pretty big deal.”

 

“Not to me,” Jack said. “It’s not like a PhD is much use in the field.”

 

“So, why did you get it?” Mac asked, genuinely curious.

 

Jack shrugged. “Whim, mostly. One of my commanding officers said I had a knack for tactics and suggested I might want to get a degree, be an officer, go further, so I looked into it on my downtime. Turns out I really liked it, so I decided to go all the way.”

 

“How’d you manage it?” Mac wanted to know. “It must have been hard, being in the field and all.”

 

“It was,” Jack confirmed. “Took me forever. Much longer than eight years. Took me over two years just to write my dissertation. I went part time, took classes when I could, had a lot of really understanding professors that let me take incompletes and finish the work when I could. It helped a lot when online classes started getting popular. Did most of my grad work online.”

 

“I’m impressed,” Mac said. “So, why didn’t you ever do anything with it?”

 

Another shrug. “I like being in the field.”  He grinned, trying to lighten the mood. “I mean, can you see me tied to a desk?”

 

Mac thought about that. “I guess not. Does Matty know?” 

 

“Probably not,” Jack said. “It’s in my file, but I doubt she bothered to read it. She just sees what she wants to see, and a PhD isn’t it.” Jack couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice.

 

“I guess we all just saw that,” Mac said. 

 

Jack clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t feel too bad about it. It’s what I wanted you to see. Can’t blame you for falling for the Jack Dalton image.”

 

“I do feel bad,” Mac said. “We’re your team, your best friends. If anybody saw through it, it should have been us.”

 

Jack sighed. “Look, kid, it’s not your fault. I know it seems like I wear my heart on my sleeve, but I’ve built up a lot of walls over the years. I’ve had to because of what I do. It’s not easy to let people in  in  our business, not when it’s all about keeping secrets and telling someone could get them or you killed. It’s not easy to let  the barriers down, even with those closest to me, and believe me, there’s no one closer to me than you.”

 

Mac rested a hand on Jack’s. “Thanks, buddy. You, too. I just wish we—I’d-- known.”

 

“Well, now you do.” Jack smiled. They sat in silence, each thinking their own thoughts, until Jack spoke, breaking the somber mood. “I’ll let you in on a secret.”

 

“What?” Mac wanted to know.

 

Jack leaned close r as if about to divulge a state secret. “I still don’t know what a normal angle is.”

 

 


End file.
